Chapter 297
The cycle of the sun and moon continued . Spring went and summer came; then came fall before pale winter .
A year thus went by in a flash .
Atop of a huge rock that was being padded constantly by the tidal waves on a shore, Grimm solemnly sat and recalled all the memories he had with Lefay .
That day, he held Lefay in his arms as they watched the stunning sun set by this beach, whispered sweet words and looked forward to a beautiful future together .
Every moment, every memory of her flowed slowly through his mind as he silently sat there alone .
The most important person in his life was now dead . She's gone… just like that . This meant that she would never appear on another part of any world ever again; this meant that her journey in life would never cross with his ever again—like the day she met him and Old Ham .
The life of a low-level being was too short indeed .
It was so short that in the eyes of the high-level beings, they were nothing but a small thread of memories that was tied to larger, more important incidents .
In fact… Lefay's death was not something so sudden and unbearable to most .
Even if Hattori the Hidden did not appear… even if there was no Demo Hunter Consociation's involvement… she would still have died .
Grimm knew that . He had foreseen this when he left Black Isotta Academy via his sorcerer's foresight . Yet, he did not want to believe it… until it finally happened; and then came the agony .
He wondered… what would the Celestial Sorcerers think when they looked at him? Would they treat him like he would to Lefay?
It was not that they were forbidden to contact another . It was the tremendous gap in their life that made it difficult for them understand one another .
This was what Master Peranos meant . No matter how much power a sorcerer obtained, if he had not experienced any of these… in the end, he was in essence nothing but a sorcerer-apprentice who had acquired the power of a sorcerer .
This was something that every sorcerer must experience in their growth . It's unavoidable .
This one-year time might be, on the surface, a period of time for Grimm to heal the wound upon his soul; but on top of that it was, actually, a time that was granted for him to develop his soul into something that was befitting for a sorcerer .
Henceforth, Grimm and the other Sorcerer-apprentices would have a massive gap in terms of the understanding of life—much like how Grimm viewed the sorcerers as the untouchable mysterious beings when he was an apprentice .
It was like how a toddler acquired its self-consciousness .
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Grimm had felt it .
The hate for Black Sorcerers… the contempt for the Demon Hunter Consociation… and the eternal love for the woman he loves .
There was nothing Grimm could do to express his hate for the Black Sorcerers .
As for the contempt for the Demon Hunter Consociation, he was too powerless to protest against them .
As for the eternal love, Grimm was convinced that he would not be able to harbor such feelings for another member of his kind on the opposite gender ever again .
Perhaps, this was also why most sorcerers who could suppress their feelings and urges had lost their ability to produce offspring . This, perhaps, was also the price the sorcerers who had experienced love during their apprentice-days had to pay .
"Caw caw caw! Master, what are we going to eat today?"
Myna glided down from the sky afar and landed on Grimm's shoulder .
It seemed that Myna, a creature whose intelligence was akin to single-cell creatures, could recover from this grief much better than Grimm—in just a matter of a few days, Myna had completely returned to his usual self .
Grimm wondered again . If he too had died, would Myna still be able to recover as quickly?
Perhaps… Myna might feel sad for a few more days compared to Lefay's death… this bird was, after all, had lived with him for over two-hundred years…
To him, a mystical bird who had experienced almost everything already, Grimm's short life of three-hundred years was not as colorful and painful than his own .
Maybe… to him… the other people, like Grimm himself, were all idiots who kept on finding meaningless things to torture themselves?
"Grimm is just my dog . He will come when I summon him . "
Grimm couldn't help but to recall what Myna said a long time ago .
He abruptly stood up on the rock and sighed . "I don't have the appetite . If you may eat if you are hungry . We're going to Tomb Segja Academy . "
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"Caw? Master… you're leaving? Alright, let's go . After Lefay's gone, this island is starting to bore me…"
After laying his eyes on this land that nurtured him once, tears welled in Grimm's eyes as he smiled serenely .
Then, he swiftly turned and flew away .
Half a month later .
Across the Jewel Sea… Section 19 of Seven Ring Holy Tower… even further away from Section 18 of Sorcerer Continent, Grimm had arrived at a Bright Sorcerer academy—Tomb Segja Academy .
It was a massive city that was formed by white castles, crystal clear streams and emerald green pastures . In the middle of the city stood a tall Sorcerer Tower, one that displayed its just and fair ideals while still maintaining a romantic atmosphere .
The citizens of the city were all Sorcerer-apprentices, living peacefully together as they earnestly study the great knowledge of sorcery .
Indeed .
The Bright Sorcerer academies recruited far more apprentices than the Dark Sorcerer academies . It was not unheard of to see their academies grow to the size of a city .
Away from disturbance of war, these places were heavens of Sorcerer-apprentices in the Sorcerer World .
Crooow Croooow…
A white owl glided down from the sky and landed on Grimm's shoulder .
This was a Level 1 Creature and a guardian of the academy . A circlet of flower was knotted to one of its talons—a symbol of the Tomb Segja Stigmata Sorcereress .
"O' great Sorcerer, to enter the academy as an outsider you are required to reveal your identity . " The white owl politely spoke after it gave Grimm a bow .
"Caw caw! Look at this . "
Myna had a five-colored flower in its beak . An insect's leg was extended from the flower's stigma… fuming a rather peculiar scent .
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"Oh! This… this is the scent of the great Tomb Segja Stigmata Sorcereress!?"
The white owl quickly recovered from its surprise and continued on respectfully, "O' our guest, what is it that I could do for you? Or is there any message you need me to pass on to the principal?"
Grimm nodded to the owl, "Please inform your principal that I require some outsourcing from the academy . "
Croooow… Crooow…
After hearing this, the white owl extended its wings and swiftly flew towards the Sorcerer Tower . While waiting for its return, Grimm took a slow walk in the academy to experience the Bright Sorcerers' academician world .
Groups of Sorcerer-apprentices walked pass Grimm, not realizing nor noticed Grimm's identity as a full-fledged sorcerer at all .
And from afar, there was Sorcerer-apprentice holding a magic lamp while calling out to the crowds . It seemed that she was trying to market and sell her new inventions?
Booom!
Black smog fumed out from one of the castles as several Sorcerer-apprentices rushed out gasping for air . Then, they quickly gathered round and started a fierce debate about the accidents from the experience inside the lab .
Then, atop of a tall platform, two Sorcerer-apprentices gave each other a polite bow before beginning their sorcery sparring…
Every corner he turned, Grimm saw a world of sorcerers that felt so alien .
So… this was how the Bright Sorcerer-apprentices spent their days?
Grimm started to recall his apprentice-days… the enigmatic curse murders… then Gore Test… Missions… wars between the academies… and the Holy Tower Qualification Battles…
Every single success of a Dark Sorcerer was at the expense of others' lives . They, the Dark Sorcerers that would send Black Sorcerers and other creatures fleeing in fear, were all forged in fire .
A few moments later .
A Level 3 Sorceress, extended a pair of leaf-wings behind her back, flew towards Grimm .
Grimm was astounded as he saw her . That pair of leaf-wings… they looked like Lefay's…
"O' our honored guest, our guardian told me moments earlier that you possess a token of pledge from the great Tomb Segja Stigmata Sorcereress; and you wished to outsource a task to the academy?"
An elegant glow of amber was blooming in the principal Sorceress' eyes; an illusion of a tiny playful fairy was hovering about in a jewel that was sitting atop of her Sorcerer Staff .
The Principal Sorceress examined Grimm carefully with her keen eyes before laid them on the flower that was in Myna's beak .
Grimm responded with a bow . "Yes, O' Principal . Via the token of pledge I've acquired from the great Tomb Segja Stigmata Sorcereress, I wish to donate 100 Sorcerer Essences to the academy in exchange for some outsourcing . "
The Principal Sorceress extended her palm as Myna passed the flower to her .
Then, she replied, "Indeed this is the Tomb Segja Stigmata Sorceress' token of pledge . The academy accepts your outsourcing and aids you to run research on your behalf . "
Nodding with a smile, Grimm slashed open a dimensional crack and took out a paper and a large chunk of Sorcerer Essence .
"There are 200 Sorcerer Essences here . Out of these, 80 Sorcerer Essences are for the purchase for the materials . The rest are for the matrix sketching . "
The paper that Grimm handed over was a blueprint of "Destructive Force Gauge" .
There were thirty-six readings on the Destructive Force Gauge—it included the extreme elements of fire and ice, each had eighteen readings on them . Grimm designed this to better observe and measure Destructive Force . By doing so, he would then be able to invent better sorcery that utilized Destructive Force .
The Principal Sorceress smiled widely .
"Oh? 220 years of outsourcing? Sure, I will gather six Sorcerers to participate in the effort . Come! Let's discuss this over coffee…"
Thus, Grimm had wisely spent his Sorcerer Essences to acquire a tool that would have originally taken him over 200 years to assemble via the aid of the Arcane Sorcerers .
Although Grimm had completed some preparation for this, the work, including the gathering of materials, would still take up over 200 years .
Yet now, with the aid of a Sorcerer Academy, Grimm could acquire it within forty years . And he did not need to wait in the four decades just for the tools to be assembled—he could proceed and do something else .
This was one of the reasons as to why the Demon Hunters were always becoming much stronger than the Arcane Sorcerers in the end .